Religious institutions in the modern context : a case-study of the international Islamic Fiqh academy

This work is an endeavor to find answers to the questions that the rupture of modernity has generated. It studies the religious institutions in twenty-first century Muslim societies from a social science perspective. Internationalization, globalization and institutionalization are new arrangements that have transformed the practices of traditional religious authorities. This research seeks to explore how these new international religious institutions interact with new settings, work with a global framework and respond to changing realities. The research has found that the work of the International Islamic Figh Academy is characterized by one major tension. The tension is manifested in the attempt to preserve Islamic tradition and worldview while facilitating the modern life and resisting the cultural project of the West. The significant challenges that the IIFA has to face, particularly in economy and science, explain how the tension plays out within the IlFA's fatwas. Although this research focuses on the relationship between Islamic religious institutions and the modern life, it also addresses contemporary Islamic legal discourse more broadly. The figh principle of maslaha is a core concept through which IIFA's positions toward reality are articulated. The deployment of this concept by the IIFA can tell us more about the tension that the IIFA has to accommodate and manage. Also, the significant contribution of the IIFA to the classical figh in approaching new questions is enhancing the circle of fuqahä' in giving fatwas to include the social scientists and experts. This collective work of fugahä' and experts paves the way to a new relationship between social sciences and religion. This research is one further step in that direction.